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Big Boi recently purchased the home that included The Dungeon Studio. In the basement of Rico Wade's family's house back in the early 1990s, OutKast, Goodie Mob, and other artists recorded some of their earliest music. Wade's Organized Noize, with Sleepy Brown and Ray Murray, was at the helm, mentoring... Read more

D&D, Can-Am, Chung King. Hip-Hop has its fair share of famous recording studios. In Atlanta, few labs rival the notoriety of The Dungeon. This grimy, no-frills lair in Rico Wade's mother's basement in Lakewood Heights section of East Atlanta, Georgia would be a meeting place and breeding ground for some... Read more

Twenty-five years ago this season, OutKast released their first single, "Player's Ball." Big Boi and André 3000 had appeared on TLC's remix to "What About Your Friends" as teenagers in 1992. Like that opportunity, "Player's Ball" was birthed out of LaFace Records trying to cross-promote its fledgling Rap duo. For... Read more

From the nearly flawless catalog he put together as half of OutKast to his celebrated solo catalog, Big Boi is a 25-year-legend in Hip-Hop. NPR released their latest Tiny Desk concert series episode, and it includes Big Boi and his Dungeon Family associate Sleepy Brown. The Organized Noize producer/singer performs... Read more

OutKast has one of the most consistent catalogs in all of music. Their first four albums, in particular, are revered as some of the best Rap music released between 1994 and Y2K. However, during that legendary run, André 3000 and Big Boi turned on the turbo jets 20 years ago... Read more

“Finding the GOAT Group,” the fourth installment of Ambrosia For Heads’ annual competition series features Hip-Hop’s greatest collectives vying for the #1 spot. Sixty-two groups have been pre-selected by a panel of experts, and one slot will be reserved for a wild-card entry (which has been determined), including the possibility... Read more

“Finding the GOAT Group,” the fourth installment of Ambrosia For Heads’ annual competition series features Hip-Hop’s greatest collectives vying for the #1 spot. Sixty-two groups have been pre-selected by a panel of experts, and one slot will be reserved for a wild-card entry (which has been determined), including the possibility for... Read more

“Finding the GOAT Group,” the fourth installment of Ambrosia For Heads’ annual competition series features Hip-Hop’s greatest collectives vying for the #1 spot. Sixty-two groups have been pre-selected by a panel of experts, and one slot will be reserved for a wild-card entry (which has been determined), including the possibility... Read more

“Finding the GOAT Group,” the fourth installment of Ambrosia For Heads’s annual battle series features Hip-Hop’s greatest collectives vying for the #1 spot. Sixty-two groups have been pre-selected by a panel of experts, and one slot will be reserved for a wild-card entry, including the possibility for write-in candidates, to... Read more

J. Period has made some of the best, most conceptual, and musically-moving mixtapes of the last 15 years. That gift has led the New York City-based California native to work up close and personal with Black Thought, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Nas, Q-Tip, and others. Having now earned a #1 album... Read more

"Imagine being able to control your own destiny. Shape your own future. And then, one mistake take all that away. The reality of it is, you do control your own destiny and future, and one mistake will take all that away. Think about it." - Big Rube, "Benz or Beamer." In... Read more

UPDATE: The official music video for "We The Ones": ORIGINAL MAY 6 POST: Last week, Hip-Hop celebrated Outkast and Organized Noize with the 23rd anniversary of Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. That LaFace Records classic was a true collaboration between Andre 3000, Big Boi, and the production trio of Sleepy Brown, Ray Murray, as... Read more

UPDATE: The original vote was within 1%, so a tie-breaker was held to determine the winner. Erick Sermon won that vote by 6%. “Finding the GOAT Producer” begins. The third installment of Ambrosia For Heads’s annual battle series features Hip-Hop’s greatest producers vying for the #1 spot. Thirty producers were... Read more

To follow up Poetic Justice, John Singleton’s 1993 romantic drama starring Tupac and Janet Jackson, the Boyz n the Hood director released his third movie two years later, in 1995. Higher Learning confronted issues like racism and sexual assault through the lens of students on a fabricated multicultural college campus.... Read more

Last night (September 10), Atlanta, Georgia played host to the One Musicfest at Lakewood Amphitheater. As announced leading up to the event, the concert included a Dungeon Family reunion including Outkast, Goodie Mob, Killer Mike, and others. From those three entities, only Khujo Goodie was not in attendance. However the... Read more

True to its extraterrestrial theme, OutKast's 1996 sophomore album ATLiens was of another world. Like the "Paid In Full" vocal sample proclaimed, André 3000 and Big Boi added "new color, new dimension, and new value" to the mid-'90s Hip-Hop ethos. Arguably, this came at a time when Hip-Hop's soul needed... Read more

Last September, Ambrosia For Heads launched a debate among its readers seeking to answer one of Hip-Hop’s most hotly-contested questions: what is the greatest Rap Album Of All-Time? “Finding The GOAT Album” has considered more than 120 albums from the 80s, 90s and 2000s (40 in each), with options for... Read more

One year ago, Ambrosia For Heads launched a debate among its readers seeking to answer one of Hip-Hop’s most hotly-contested questions: who is the greatest MC of all time? “Finding The GOAT MC” lasted between September 2014 and May 2015, engaging millions of readers and ultimately producing its winner, as... Read more

One year ago, Ambrosia For Heads launched a debate among its readers seeking to answer one of Hip-Hop’s most hotly-contested questions: who is the greatest MC of all time? “Finding The GOAT MC” lasted between September 2014 and May 2015, engaging millions of readers and ultimately producing its winner, as... Read more

One year ago, Ambrosia For Heads launched a debate among its readers seeking to answer one of Hip-Hop’s most hotly-contested questions: who is the greatest MC of all time? “Finding The GOAT MC” lasted between September 2014 and May 2015, engaging millions of readers and ultimately producing its winner, as... Read more

In 1997, Outkast were riding high. Big Boi and Andre 3000 had taken not only the South, but the entire Hip-Hop world by storm, in 1994, with their debut album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, and had avoided the dreaded sophomore slump with their acclaimed album Atliens. Their success propelled not only themselves, but... Read more

Organized Noize is one of the most impactful musical groups of the last 25 years. The Atlanta, Georgia-based trio of Sleepy Brown, Rico Wade, and Ray Murray would be deeply responsible for the mainstream (and critical) success of Outkast, TLC, Goodie Mob, and a litany of other acts, ranging from... Read more

One year ago, Ambrosia For Heads launched a debate among its readers seeking to answer one of Hip-Hop’s most hotly-contested questions: who is the greatest MC of all time? “Finding The GOAT MC” lasted between September 2014 and May 2015, engaging millions of readers and ultimately producing its winner, as... Read more

On November 7, 1995, Atlanta Hip-Hop group Goodie Mob released its debut album, Soul Food. Cee Lo Green, Big Gipp, Khujo, and T-Mo blended conscientious lyrics with Southern sensibilities, and many Heads claim the LP featured the first use of the term "Dirty South" in a Rap lyric. The album... Read more

Year 2000 was forced to be big in Hip-Hop. As the whole world saw the changes that came with a new millennium, the culture used the newness of things to seemingly reset from the troubling actions, tones, and violent mistakes of the late 1990s. Hip-Hop as a whole seemed to... Read more

From Outkast to Goodie Mob to Future, Organized Noize have been essential creators to the last 25 years of Hip-Hop. The Atlanta, Georgia-based trio of Sleepy Brown, Ray Murray, and Rico Wade are stellar samplers, as well as amazing musicians. So the latest guests to play Mass Appeal's Rhythm Roulette... Read more

One year ago, Ambrosia For Heads launched a debate among its readers seeking to answer one of Hip-Hop’s most hotly-contested questions: who is the greatest MC of all time? “Finding The GOAT MC” lasted between September 2014 and May 2015, engaging millions of readers and ultimately producing its winner, as... Read more

At the end of the 1990s, the Dungeon Family's meteoric rise was fully in stride. Outkast had three platinum, critically-acclaimed albums. Goodie Mob was close behind, with two gold LPs of a similar pedigree, and late '99's World Party closely in tow. Labels wanted in on the magic happening in... Read more

In the same week that host Frannie Kelley interviewed her co-host Ali Shaheed Muhammad, NPR Microphone Check sat down with Atlanta, Georgia production trio Organized Noize. Interviewed before a live New York City audience, the moment included appearances from Big Rube, Big Boi, and other members of the Dungeon Family.... Read more

Salute to OutKast on the 20th anniversary of their classic debut Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. Here's a look back at their appearance on Yo! MTV Raps from that storied era. Fab 5 Freddy joins Big Boi, Andre and Organized Noize (the production collective behind the album) in Atlanta at the famed Dungeon studio.... Read more

Almost 25 years ago, Positive K made "I Got A Man," an anthem about the road blocks in trying to step to an object of your desire. Off of Honest, Future and Andre 3000 take that same idea and update the language and aesthetic on "Benz Friendz (Whatchutola)." Future, although... Read more

So you didn't have the money, or maybe the time, or maybe even the energy for Coachella. In the digital age, you can still dive in without paying 10 bills for water, or getting your shoes scuffed up. Outkast took the stage Friday night (April 11). The reunion of Big... Read more

Complex has been doing an incredible series where they interview legendary producers and have them break down their classic songs track for track. In the past, they've done DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Diamond D and others. The latest is Organized Noize, the production team behind some of best joints by... Read more

It's seldom, however, that you hear about Organized Noize, the production team that played a key role in architecting the sonic foundation of OutKast's early music, and that of other influential artists coming out of Atlanta in the 90's. The latest playlist in our producer series is dedicated to Organized... Read more